Quote from Forum Archives on June 13, 2001, 11:41 am

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

I mentioned a week or so ago that I would like to periodically
take a look at some of the aspects of worshipping God. For those
of you who may be entering into the discussion without a context,
you might find it useful to take a look at the Web site,
spiritual.crosswalk.com, then click on the link, "Worship
Matters" on the left frame of the display. The entire series of
articles about worship, (ranging from a discussion of the role of
music in worship, to discussing what the word worship means) can
be found in the archive at this site.

Today's message from Bob Kauflin takes another look at our
attitudes, and discusses the relevancy of our attitudes in
worship. My prayer is that this message will remind us to
regularly check our own attitudes, particularly as we turn our
attention toward God. May we be honest, humble, and willing to
be moved (and changed) by the Spirit of God, that He may
accomplish His purpose - receiving full credit and praise for all
that He has done.

Your brother in Christ,
Brian

Reply-to: Worship Matters <worshipmatters@lists.crosswalk.com>
Subject: Worship Matters, Wanting God More Than Anything: More
Than the Praise of Men, Part 1, June 12, 2001
Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 12:07:10 -0400

WORSHIP MATTERS, with Bob Kauflin of PDI Ministries
www.pdinet.org/

Visit the Spiritual Life Channel on Crosswalk.com:
spiritual.crosswalk.com

Wanting God More Than Anything: More Than the Praise
of Men, Part 1

Few of us appear more "spiritual" than when we gather
with the Church to praise God in song. Voices raised,
faces bright, hands uplifted (or maybe holding a hymnal)
-- surely, worship is taking place, right?

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Worship is definitely taking place. The question is:
To whom is it directed? It can be dangerous to assume
that, if we're surrounded by other Christians exalting
God, we must be exalting God, too. As you're probably
aware, self-focused and ungodly thoughts can pass
through our minds even as we sing worshipful words. Is
it possible to worship God on the outside while
worshiping myself on the inside? Sadly, yes.

Jesus confronted this type of hypocrisy among the
religious leaders of his day. "Everything they do is
done for men to see" (Matthew 23:5). What a sobering
indictment. While others esteemed the piety of their
clothing, prayers and teachings, Jesus detected their
true motives. He pointed out how they loved the most
important seats in the synagogues and enjoyed having
others call them, "Rabbi." What was the issue? "They
loved praise from men more than praise from God"
(John 12:43).

We shouldn't be too quick to comfort ourselves that
we're not first-century Pharisees strutting about in
flowing robes. The spirit of the Pharisees is alive
and well in our generation. Let's take a moment to look
at some of the ways it's revealed.

Ask yourself a few questions. What am I most
conscious of as I'm standing in front of my closet on
Sunday morning, picking out the clothes I'll wear? Have
you ever thought, "Oh, I can't wear that old thing. It's
so out of fashion." Or perhaps, "This new outfit is
going to make people sit up and take notice!" Or maybe,
"I just don't have anything to wear!" Of course, wanting
to look your best is not evil in itself. It's when we
are more concerned with how we appear to others than how
we appear before God that idolatry has been exposed.
Whose opinion matters most to you? That's the real
question.

Here's another example. When we arrive at the Sunday
meeting, what fills our minds? Do we eagerly look
forward to expressing wholehearted devotion to the King
of the universe? Or do our minds drift to checking out
what everyone's wearing, taking note of who doesn't
greet us or struggling with the attention that someone
else is receiving?

I'm glad that while I sing praises to God, no one's
projecting my thoughts on a screen. Sometimes those
words could read, "I want people to praise ME like I'm
praising YOU, O Lord." Let's be thankful we have a
Savior who cleanses even our "holy" acts, as well as a
Deliverer who can turn our hearts to truly desire His
glory above our own.

Next week, we'll look at how desiring the praise of
men can particularly affect those who have the privilege
of leading others in the worship of God.

For His Glory,

Bob

Editor's Note --

Find out what's new on the Spiritual Life Channel. Sign
up for the weekly Spiritual Life Update to keep abreast
of the latest articles written to challenge your
spiritual growth.

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Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/
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